Well, you don't say if it's a boy or girl, but I don't think my toy suggestions would change much due to the hearing status of the child. I tend to get the relatively traditional building toys - Lego, K-Nex, etc. I also like to give arts & crafts supplies. Games are good too; a new favorite is Blockus. Some computer games are much more about planning than hearing special effects. My boys may not be typical, but they love games like SimCity. (An added bonus - no violence.)

I consider all the above to be educational because they teach spatial relations, design, budgeting, etc. as well as patience and sometimes following directions. I would rather stretch their imaginations than buy a leapfrog type "educational toy."

It doesn't matter as much as you might think...

I have 22-month old twins, one hearing and one deaf. There have been several toys that I assumed would not interest my deaf child because it makes noise, but if it moves or has flashing lights or buttons to push, etc. it can be just as much fun for a deaf child. One toy at the playgroup we attend, which is for deaf children, is a little basketball hoop. (I think it is by Leapfrog?) The deaf children can't hear it counting or saying letters, but the letters also appear on an LED screen above the hoop. They like to put the ball through just as much as my hearing child.

Are you working on any specific educational goals? I know that most toys that help with reading are going to have mostly verbal cues, but that's when it helps to go low tech. Just ask yourself what you would get for a child's quiet playtime, like for on an airplane or in church.

My almost-8-year-old loves to build things. And play pretend - dollhouses, things of that sort are big in her life at the moment. There are also lots of puzzles and things that kids that age can do, that do not rely on hearing.

There's also

books like "I Spy", and you could easily add an ASL element to that as well.
Even tho William is not deaf, I have been disappointed with the amount of toys that seem to rely on all the noise to get kids interested. When I was trying to find cool educational toys when he was in Early Intervention, it was so difficult to find the good ol' toys.. the ones without the batteries, flashes, etc. Lucky for me, the local program had so many of those that they used & lent out.

Kei, mom of 6, including 11 yr old William, who has T21/aka Down syndromeMy blog~ Unlimited

The way to find non-electronic, old-fashioned toys is to find places/companies which cater to teachers, not parents. Lakeshore learning is a great one, but is expensive. They do carry a lot of adaptive toys, have great doll-sized adaptive equipment, and similar things but you can easily mortgage your house setting up a playroom from them. Oriental Trading's Hands on Fun catalog has some of the same things at lower cost. Teaching supply stores often carry this sort of thing, as do more expensive, independent toy stores.

I've got a real problem with this "every single toy has to play music, talk, make noise" etc-ever since the day I sang "Wheels on the bus" while loading my niece's toy school bus, and she looked at me like I was insane and hit the button so the bus played the song, so I buy a lot of Alli's things from companies I know through education.

Another thing to consider-a lot of companies have the older, retro video games out now, and while all of these have sound, the sound isn't really necessary (it's not telling you what to do or giving instructions), so these might be something to look at. For older children, older text and text-graphic adventures are still available, and are a lot of fun with no sound required. The Kings Quest and similar games by Sierra Online are quite good-many rely on literary references for the puzzles, and until I believe 7 or 8, used a text-based communications system. The older Ultima games (Ultima 6 and before) were also largely text-based and much less violent than the current ones. Legend had very nice text-graphic based adventures. And Infocom and Scott Adams adventures were completely text based, with no graphics or sound whatsoever (and were literally considered "interactive fiction"). I know there are "Classics" collections for Infocom, Ultima, Kings Quest, and Legend (we have them all), and that most of the Scott Adams and some of the INfocom games have been released into the public domain for download.

[COLOR=blue]Music teacher who loves to integrate sign, and mom to Alli, 11/25/04. She walks, she talks, she signs! She's super-toddler!COLOR]

...any additional ideas for a deaf toddler?

He's just turning 3 this Wednesday, and his mom had the same 'everything is auditory-oriented' comment. Birthday present / other ideas? I'll look to see if the basketball hoop thingy is around here -- not sure how expensive that is, though. And the 'retro' toys is a great thought.

Just curious if there anyone had any favorites to share that could really engage him.

He's just turning 3 this Wednesday, and his mom had the same 'everything is auditory-oriented' comment. Birthday present / other ideas? I'll look to see if the basketball hoop thingy is around here -- not sure how expensive that is, though. And the 'retro' toys is a great thought.

Just curious if there anyone had any favorites to share that could really engage him.

If a toy lights up (even if it also makes noise of some sort) it is engaging for a deaf child. Cassia loves her little pretend cell phone. She pushes the buttons and sees the little lights come on and flash. She doesn't know that Minnie Mouse is talking to her as she pushes the buttons, but she still loves it. She holds it up to her face the way I do with my cell phone, but she especially loves the buttons.

Bean Bags??

Hi, I was wondering if anyone knows where to find these ASL bean bags. They are each a different color, with the ASL color word demonstrated for each one on them. They are so cute. Jayme loved playing with them at Speech this week but her ST got them as a gift and doesn't know for sure where they were purchased. They come in a red draw string bag with a yellow draw string.

Sound familiar to anyone?

Thanks and hugs,
Vickie

Vickie, SAHM, crafting maniac
Brett, husband of 25 years, still my best friend